No more eyes in the sky: an ode to camera drones

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has reportedly banned the use of aerial camera drones in South Africa, with immediate effect. Take a look at some amazing footage they’ve brought us, and feel nostalgic.

I have seldom felt as stoked to get out and take risks in the interest of entertaining myself as I was after watching the GoPro Hero 2 promo video. It’s just awesome, plain and simple. Action-cams of many varieties have since taken the world by storm, but their use was revolutionised when people started strapping them to glorified toy helicopters and flying them around, taking aerial shots that changed the game.

The South African Civil Aviation Authority was recently reported to have banned the use of all UAVs with mounted cameras, effective immediately. They supposedly cited a lack of legislation for proper control of the use of air-borne cameras as the reason. There is much concern in relation to the effect that the ban will have on the burgeoning South African film industry, and calls have been made for a speedy solution to the problem.

UPDATE: As of June 10 it has become clear, through a South African Government News Agency report that the use of camera drones has not in fact been explicitly banned by the SACAA. The fact remains though, that “those that are flying any type of unmanned aircraft are doing so illegally.”

So why should you care? Well, we like to be up there with the best, don’t we? We want our film industry to bring in top dollar; we want our would-be professional extreme sportsmen to be making the very best videos of themselves that they can; we want people to be able to showcase what we have to offer in South Africa as beautifully as possible.

These videos do a good job of demonstrating a simple but crucial point: perspective makes all the difference. It’s not until you’re above the crest of a wave at pipeline (the world’s most famous surf break) that you can tell the terror that one must feel dropping in, with the reef so clear beneath you.

Camera drone at Pipeline

Camera drone at Afrikaburn

Many of us who went to Afrikaburn have surrendered to hideous nostalgia and watched some of the videos from this year floating around the cloud (read: Ten things you’ll only understand if you’ve been to Afrikaburn). It’s not a healthy pursuit, as the vast majority leave you wishing you were back in the desert, living the experience that a video just can’t quite convey. This clip, however, gives you a whole new look at proceedings. It shows you things as you couldn’t possibly have seen them while there in the flesh.